The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
THE fall of the Berlin Wall and the dilution of Soviet influence over much of Eastern Europe was closer than people realised, when Mikhail Gorbachev, who died this week, visited Clare, in April of 1989.
The previous week’s Clare Champion’s lead story had the headline ‘Council sees Red on Gorbachev visit plans’.
“Wednesday’s adjourned Council meeting made it clear that nothing less than FULL COUNCIL REPRESENTATION would be acceptable, even though up to the time of the meeting no invitation to either the chairman Pat McMahon or to the Council as a body had been received.”
The following week’s paper showed that that issue had been resolved, as the Newmarket man had been on the runway when President Gorbachev arrived, while that week’s front page photograph was of Gorbachev shaking hands with the Taoiseach, Charles Haughey.
The lead story focused on the fact that President Hillary was in Ennis but not at Shannon when Gorbachev arrived, while it said that Bishop Michael Harty, had been invited but had to decline due to a prior commitment. He was represented by Shannon based priest Brendan O’Donoghue, who is still in situ there decades later.
Security, while very noticeable, wasn’t at the level seen for US Presidential visits in subsequent years.
“Security at the airport was tight but less obtrusive than had been feared with over 300 plainclothes and uniformed Gardai co-ordinated by a special security committee under Assistant Commissioner Ned O’Dea, head of crime and security.
“Garda task force members escorted Mr and Mrs Gorbachev at the airport and the Bunratty Folk Park, while Special Branch Oficers armed with Uzi machine guns patrolled the roofs of the main airport terminal buildings.
“The main approach roads were patrolled by army personell in armoured cars while air corps helicopters were on surveillance from early morning. “
On the day of the visit the President’s visit, his wife Raisa was brought to Bunratty Folk Park, and it didn’t go down well with some covering the visit, who felt there was a touch of Paddywhackery about it.
“Although the visit was obviously geared to boost tourism revenues in the Mid West, many of the reporters covering the Raisa side of the programme felt the cause of the Irish economy could have been better served by a glimpse of the country and its people in the 1980s.”
With Mrs Gorbachev having interests in fashion and education, it was felt by many of the members of the international media that there must have been far better options than Bunratty.
“As it turned out the Folk Park visit backfired to some extent. For instead of being portrayed by the international media as a museum of historical importance, it was treated in some quarters more on the lines of a joke, as a throwback to the days of the stage Irishman.
“The message seemed to be that if Ireland wants to be taken seriously on the international front, there should be less of the ‘paddywhackery’ and more of the late 20th Century reality.”
However, Mrs Gorbachev was a hit with those she met at Bunratty. “Ordinary people had been told not to go near the Folk Park on Sunday morning but the crowd who were invited along got their money’s worth when she stopped her car on the way out and threw her timetable up in a heap by getting out to greet them.
“Twenty years ago it would have been unthinkable, but on this day of days, men and women who’s mothers and fathers must have said innumerable novenas for the conversion of Russia were intent on pressing the flesh of Mrs Gorbachev.
“The last time anyone can remembers similar enthusiasm in the Mid West was for the Papal visit back in 1979.”
In an address to Mr Gorbachev, Council Chairman Pat McMahon stated that ties between the USSR and Clare were deepening.
“I am particularly glad that in Co Clare the practical expression of this every increasing relationship was to be seen in the development of the Aeroflot use of Shannon Airport, and more recently in the planning and management of the duty free shops in Moscow and Leningrad. This latter development is particularly exciting to me as a Clareman as many of my county men are now working in Moscow and experiencing the Russian way of life.”
The Fianna Fáil man presented Mr Gorbachev with a bronze statue of De Valera.
“We recognise your great achievements for international peace and co-operation. Eamon De Valoera in the 1930s achieved international repute in the promotion of peace and understanding during his period as President of the League of Nations. We recognise that you have shown to the world a similar commitment to the development of understanding between all nations and peoples.”
During the visit Charlie Haughey sought to push the idea of a US-USSR summit in Clare.
“A Superpower summit in Co Clare emerged as a distinct possibility after Sunday’s visit by President Mikhail Gorbachev to Shannon when the Taoiseach became the first Government leader to meet with both the Soviet and American Presidents.
“Mr Haughey offered Ireland as a venue for possible summit between the US and Soviet leaders when he met with US President George Bush in Washington three weeks ago and the offer was repeated to President Gorbachev in Shannon on Sunday.
“With Shannon’s recent development as the biggest Aeroflot station outside the sociailst bloc countries, and the airport’s emergence as the major crossroads between east and west, the Shannon area has a number of obvious advantages as a possible summit venue.”
While Gorbachev said that Haughey’s proposal would be kept in mind, unsurprisingly it never came to anything.
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
